PONE-D-21-28541Mathematical modeling of release kinetics from Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles synthesized using nanoprecipitation methods: a statistical analysisPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. KS Vizuete,

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PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

This study reports a statistical comparative analysis of the mathematical models for drug delivery systems based on biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles that were reported in last 5 years. This study is worth publishing, after minor revisions suggested by the reviewers.

A suggestion to consider for the title to cover the work and enhance the readership.

"A comparative statistical analysis of the mathematical models for drug delivery systems based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles"

or

"Mathematical modeling of release kinetics from biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles prepared through nanoprecipitation methods: A comparative statistical analysis"

or

"Comparative statistical analysis of the release kinetics models for nanoprecipitated drug delivery systems based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)"

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Authors deal with the statistical comparison of mathematical models used in order to find which of them best describes the drug release profile from PLGA particles synthesized by nanoprecipitation method. I think the manuscript is very well written overall, very straightforward to follow and understand

I will recommend their publication after few corrections/suggestions as detailed below.

Why authors only consider 40 works and all of them after 2016? Perhaps a clear explanation it would be nice for readers.

I would also suggest to provide extra 1 or 2 self-made schematizations. For instance: i.- Time line regarding the mathematical models used so far to describes the drug release in similar materials. Ii.- a graphical schematization regarding their main results

Few english sentences are confusing. I will suggest to check/correct the whole manuscript by a native

I’ve particularly don’t like the bunch of tables in the manuscript. I would suggest to maintain in the main text the most appealing tables and move the rest to the SI.

Conclusion need to be rewritten, to highlight their main findings.

Reviewer #2: The manuscript applied the appropriate statistical approaches to compare and summarize the commonly used models for the drug release profile from PLGA particles synthesized by nano-precipitation method.

The screening and justification of literature and data are important for the assessment of study outcomes and final conclusion. It will be better to add a flow diagram for the screening procedure and justification/criteria of literature for the systematic research.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Comparative statistical analysis of the release kinetics models for nanoprecipitated drug delivery systems based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)

PONE-D-21-28541R1

Dear Dr. Vizuete,

Thank you for your patience. After evaluating the reviewers' comments, the responses and revised submission, we’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Pratheep K. Annamalai

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The Authors are appreciated for addressing the comments.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: The manuscript applied the appropriate statistical approaches to compare and summarize the commonly used models for the

drug release profile from PLGA particles synthesized by nano-precipitation method.

The suggestion to add a flowchart for screening literature and data was addressed by the author.

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No